Assets, such as commercial and military vehicles, ships, aircraft, generator sets, industrial equipment, and other electromechanical systems, require regular maintenance to ensure that the assets continue to function properly. Typically, these assets include critical components that are subject to a high degree of stress and/or wear, or are susceptible to failure. Accordingly, such critical components may be subject to more frequent maintenance and repair. However, the ability to implement a schedule of frequent and regular maintenance is often complicated by the fact that organizations often place very high logistical demands on these assets. Maintenance is especially difficult when such assets are deployed to remote locations and/or are required to be placed in continuous service for long periods.
A light armored vehicle (LAV) is an example of a complex electromechanical system that includes critical components. LAV's typically are 8×8 wheeled, diesel-powered, lightly armored vehicles that can be employed in a wide range of military missions. LAV's are valuable military assets due to their versatility. For example, in addition to providing other combat and combat-support functions, LAV's can transport personnel, provide a weapons platform, function as a command-and-control vehicle, and perform logistical and recovery tasks. Although LAV's can be repaired after a component fails, a reactive approach to maintenance requires unplanned downtime for the LAV. Such unplanned downtime can negatively impact execution of a military mission when the LAV is not available as expected or required by precise logistical planning. In addition, it may be difficult to prepare for, and respond effectively to, unexpected equipment failures, particularly when they occur in the field or battlefield. Even when scheduled maintenance is employed to take an LAV temporarily out of service and check the health of LAV components, the frequency of these check-ups is limited by logistical demands. As a result, problems may not be identified in time to enable preventive action and to avoid major repairs and prolonged downtime.